Montee Ball sat alone sometimes as his Wisconsin football teammates endured the early days of preseason practice.

As he recovered from the injuries he suffered during an Aug. 1 assault, Ball thought about his decision to stay in school for his senior season instead of making himself available for the NFL draft.

"At times I was regretting it," Ball said. "A couple nights last summer, I caught myself thinking about where I would have been if I was in the NFL. I'm only human.

"Because of everything that happened to me I kind of felt like I was snake-bitten."

Ball said he feels differently these days as he and the Badgers (4-3 Big Ten, 7-4) prepare for a regular season finale against Penn State (5-2, 7-4) Saturday at Beaver Stadium (3:30 p.m.; TV-ESPN2).

After a sluggish start, Ball has rushed for 1,417 yards and 17 touchdowns and is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation's top running back.

As the season progressed, he started looking like the old Montee Ball.

"I'd say I'm comfortable now," he said. "It took me a little bit, probably late in the second or early in the third game of the season. It's better late than never.

"I knew that I'd come out of the gates slowly because of what happened to me in the summer. It is what it is. I had to make sure I put it behind me."

In the early morning hours of Aug. 1, Ball was walking along University Avenue, a main thoroughfare in Madison, with some teammates and friends near his apartment, police said. He separated from the group with two female friends when he was attacked by several men.

They knocked him to the ground, leaving him with a concussion and a swollen face, witnesses said. Police arrested three students, one of whom had been involved four nights earlier in a fight at a house party where Ball had been.

Ball said he had been mistaken for someone else, but the physical damage had been done.

"I never doubted that I'd be able to play," he said. "I knew I'd be able to play. I think I only practiced a week (before the season), so I knew I was going to come out of the gates slow. I didn't have my timing or my balance down. I believe after the second game of the season it all came back to me."

The offense and Ball, however, struggled to score at first. Wisconsin had a new offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, after former coordinator Paul Chryst left to become head coach at Pittsburgh.

Then Bielema fired new offensive line coach Mike Markuson after the Badgers scored just three touchdowns in their first two games, including a 10-7 loss to Oregon State.

On top of the coaching changes, Maryland transfer Danny O'Brien began the season as the starting quarterback, but he was ineffective and replaced by freshman Joel Stave. Wisconsin won five of its next six games and Ball went off.

"This is my last go-round in college football," Ball said. "I think everything is more urgent for me. I'm bringing a lot more urgency in practice and in everything. I believe it's starting to spread to our team, but obviously we fell short in a few games."

Wisconsin's first three losses were by three points before it fell to unbeaten Ohio State 21-14 in overtime last week. Because of NCAA sanctions against the Buckeyes and Penn State, the Badgers will represent the Leaders Division in the Big Ten title game and can go to the Rose Bowl for the third straight year.

As for the 5-11, 215-pound Ball, his numbers are off from what they were last season - 2,229 yards and 39 touchdowns - when quarterback Russell Wilson was another threat. But he has become the all-time leading scorer in Football Bowl Subdivision history and needs one touchdown Saturday to hold the FBS career record by himself.

He leads the Big Ten in rushing and is a leading candidate to the conference's Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.

"Right now I'm really glad I decided to come back," Ball said. "Despite the four losses we have, we're still having a very good year and I'm having a lot of fun with my teammates. It's something I'm definitely going to cherish and miss."